Gnostic Popularizers Do What They Do: Make Up Stuff

If you are alive than you probably have heard that the Gospel of Judas was recently published by the National Geographic Society, in which according to the English translation they produced, Judas doesn’t seem so bad. Many secular news organizations picked up the story, and put headlines into the mainstream indicating that maybe Judas had gotten a raw deal all these years.

Thanks to the National Geographic Society, and the ‘dream team’ of ancient textual scholars who translated the Gospel of Judas, many tens of thousands of people around the world now believe that a credible historical source offers new insight into ‘the real Judas Iscariot.’

Turns out, as with the Da Vinci Code, that this ain’t necessarily so. No, not surprising to me and many, the whole Gospel of Judas media event has turned out to be largely based in two factors: the ignorance of the secular media, and a willingness by some reputable scholars to push the envelope of the truth.

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that the National Geographic ‘dream team’ of took some incredible leaps in their translation of the text. Perhaps, it shouldn’t surprise us that the folks they chose to translate the text have a very particular bias. Notably, Bart Ehrman of UNC-Chapel Hill is an atheist with an axe to grind, and Elaine Pagels is a neo-Gnostic, whose own work on Gnosticism has raised serious criticisms from other scholars.

If you heard about this, you probably read the newspapers, the magazine articles, or even some of the books published by these very people. One of the people who read some of thse stories was April D. DeConick, professor of biblical studies and an expert in Coptic (ancient Egyptian) at Rice University. Dr. DeConick saw the National Geographic special, then downloaded the English translation and a copy of the original published on the National Geographic website.
Within a few moments (because she can read both English and the original) she caught the deception.

She noticed that the National Geographic translated a word as "spirit" which is usually translated as "demon." In the National Geographic version, Jesus says to Judas: "O 13th spirit, why do you try so hard?" Turns out, he really says, "O 13th demon, why do you try so hard?" In another place, the National Geographic quote the text as saying that with Jesus’ blessing, Judas has been "set apart for the holy generation." Turns out, it should read, "set apart from the holy generation."

At a conference on the subject at Rice University, some of the ‘dream team’ scholars from National Geographic were present. And there, their case unravelled. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, "at one point, Pagels grabbed the microphone to say that she did not wish to be associated with Ehrman's positive take on Judas. She also, strangely, distanced herself from the book she had written with King."

I bought that book the other week at an airport – maybe you did too, it’s called "Reading Judas," by Elaine Pagels and Karen King. Turns out – its no longer even got the support of one of its authors.
I thought you should know.